Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-15

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Doctors tell us that we can get all the vitamins we need from having a healthy diet. Despite this advice, some people continue to spend large sums of money on vitamin pills.

Why do you think some people spend a lot of money on vitamin pills?

How could people be persuaded to improve their diet instead of buying vitamin pills?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The consumption of vitamin pills has increased in recent years rather than improving their diet. This trend is mainly because they are widely available in the market although some of the medicines are indeed expensive. However, I believe that consumers can reduce their reliance by knowing the potential side effects and taking personalized guidance from nutritionists.

The most significant point is that, the increased production of medications compared to the past, the advancement in the medical field has enhanced the way of discovering sources of getting vitamins making them easier than ever. As a result, instead of spending time in the kitchen preparing food, people prefer to buy vitamin pills from a nearby drugstore. Additionally, taking an Omega-3 supplement can be a viable alternative for people who do not consume fish or seafood. Moreover, they also contain other essential nutrients like protein and minerals. Thus, people are influenced towards spending more money on supplements.

There are various ways to stay healthy by consuming green vegetables and plant-based products. For instance, for those who can eat seafood, adding flaxseeds, chia seeds, mustard oil and soybean oil can be beneficial. Furthermore, having control over a diet is most important in the process of being healthy. Thus, reducing consumption of sweets and oily food is essential. Finally, consulting a professional nutritionist can be a huge help as they tend to create personalized diet plans for people after their various medical tests.

In conclusion, using vitamin pills to some extent is necessary for some people based on their diet, but finding a better and safer way before spending a large amount of money is more reliable. By consuming plant-based food and supplements that are available in the market.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, exploring reasons why people purchase vitamin pills, such as availability and convenience, and offering ways people might be persuaded to improve their diet, including consuming green vegetables and consulting nutritionists. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. For instance, the second paragraph mixes explanations about medication production with a detour into Omega-3 supplements. The student establishes a clear position throughout, but certain arguments, particularly around how people can be persuaded, tend to be slightly generalized rather than fully extended. These characteristics align best with Band 6.0, as all parts are addressed, but some aspects of development and task focus could be more rigorous and logically sustained.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure separating the introduction, reasons for buying pills, solutions for a better diet, and a conclusion. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally faulty or mechanical. For instance, transitional phrases like 'The most significant point is that, the increased production...' contain punctuation errors and clumsy phrasing. Furthermore, referencing and logical progression falter slightly in the final sentence of the essay, which is an incomplete fragment ('By consuming plant-based food and supplements that are available in the market'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas, but mechanical cohesive devices and occasional referencing lapses place this performance firmly at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'personalized guidance', 'viable alternative', 'essential nutrients', and 'professional nutritionist'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but some word choice and collocation issues occur, such as 'taking personalized guidance' instead of 'seeking personalized guidance', or referring to vitamin pills as 'medicines'. Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication. Because the lexical range is sufficient for the task and demonstrates a reasonable attempt at topical phrasing despite occasional inaccuracies, a Band 6.0 is well justified.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over relative clauses and conditional structures, such as in 'for those who can eat seafood, adding flaxseeds... can be beneficial.' However, there are noticeable grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout. For example, the opening sentence contains a dangling modifier ('The consumption... rather than improving their diet'), and commas are sometimes misused, as seen in 'The most significant point is that, the increased production...'. Additionally, the final sentence is grammatically incomplete. Despite these errors, meaning is rarely impeded, reflecting the characteristic features of Band 6.0 where a mix of structures is used with recurring errors.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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